Les Miserables' astounding popularity: By the numbers

What better way to spread Christmas cheer than with a heartbreaking tale of monarchy, poverty, and failed rebellion in 19th-century France, right? Well, that actually does sound like an ideal Christmas for thousands upon thousands of Les Miserables fans. And as they eagerly await the Christmas-day opening of Tom Hooper's celebrated film adaptation of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's massively successful musical — which is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's epic 1862 novel — here's a by-the-numbers look at the musical's enduring popularity:

42

Countries that have staged productions of Les Mis

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More than 300

Cities where Les Mis has been staged

21

Languages Les Miserables has been translated into

More than 40

Cast recordings of Les Mis

392

Costumes used in a single performance

85

Wigs used in each performance

6,680

Broadway performances of Les Miserables, making it the third-longest running Broadway show in history, behind Cats and Phantom of the Opera

More than 47,000

Professional performances of the show

114,121,158

YouTube views as of Monday morning of Susan Boyle's viral Britain's Got Talent performance of the Les Mis ballad "I Dreamed A Dream." The 2009 performance catapulted her to international fame, and was even credited with increasing demand for Les Mis tickets at London's West End.

60 million

People who have seen a stage production of Les Mis

209

Rank on Amazon's bestseller list of the paperback version of Victor Hugo's novel